Riverhouse Games

Creating tabletop RPGs, podcasts, and now a zine! Located in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Catch us making microgames, talking about queer & LGBT+ tabletop gaming, or curating small games collections.

Queer Tabletop Resources

A List of sources & articles discussed on Game Closet as well as a resource for learning more about queer/LGBT+ tabletop roleplaying games. Submissions welcome! If you know of something that should be here, please email RiverhouseGamesMN@gmail.com & I’ll add it to the list!

A note: I have not played many of these games, read many of these resources, or joined many of these communities. Their inclusion here does not represent any endorsement, and the short blurb about them may not be wholly representative of their actual content or gameplay. As with many things in tabletop games, your mileage may vary. Play responsibly. If, for any reason, I have misrepresented a game, author, or community here, I apologize. Sending me a quick email should help me know I have something to fix.

Learn More About Queer Tabletop

Descent Into Midnight

Riverhouse Games is proud to be working in conjunction with Rich Howard to produce an aquatic RPG exploring the depths of the sentient mind. A gifted team of psionic defenders fight mental, physical, and spiritual corruption threatening their ecosystem, their home, and their friendships. With shared world building, evocative playbooks & moves, and guided meditation & collaborative storytelling, Descent Into Midnight is aquatic gaming that is intense, emotional, and shows the wonder of the ocean.

Learn more about Descent Into Midnight

The Podcasts

In the year 2186, Commander Sela Shepard activated the Crucible over planet Earth, destroying the Reaper threat to galactic life. Five years of reconstruction later, and a new threat looms on the horizon. Documents detailing the origin of the reapers and citing the technological gains discovered by Cerberus fanatics have gone missing just as a rise in political pressure from a joint alliance of Batarian, Vorcha, and Yahg threatens to disrupt Council programs to reconnect the Mass Relays which greatly facilitate galactic travel. To those with sufficient clearance to access them, these documents are known simply as… The Leviathan Files.

For a long time, we were at war with The Jackals. But now, we’ve driven them off, and we have this – a year of relative peace. In this moment, there is an opportunity to build something. From The Jackals To The Shepherds is a weekly one player Actual Play of Avery Alder’s The Quiet Year. Exploring a community of survivors living in an abandoned mining camp, this show lives out a year in the life of a people recovering from war. The Jackals have been repelled and now comes reconstruction. But as Spring turns to Summer, to Fall, and eventually to Winter, this settlement will have to come to terms with itself and the perilous future that awaits.

Game Closet is an interview podcast seeking to talk to and highlight the contributions and projects of LGBT+ tabletop gamers. The goal of Game Closet is to showcase queer and LGBT+ topics within the tabletop community, explore these themes as they appear in tabletop RPGs, and to celebrate the wide array of amazingly talented LGBT+ creators and fans. Not only is this show a conversation about LGBT+ issues, it’s also a great way to find new games, shows, art, and other resources from queer creators. Game Closet is open for everybody. If you identify as queer or LGBT+ and you’re making something for roleplaying games there’s a spot open for you on this show.

Game Closet

Finished Games

Riverhouse Games has a publisher page on DriveThruRPG for our finished games, including many shorter games currently. Games range from an emotional introspective conversation with one’s self hurtling into a black hole, to a zany trip to fend off sentient chili & reignite the sun in order to get back in time for prom. Keep an eye on this space for more games as they go through development, layout, and production!

Anthology Inclusion

Riverhouse Games has been featured in some RPG anthologies. Find our games in:

Out of the Crucible, a Fire – a 200 word RPG that can be played as a standalone game, or as an exercise after a longer RPG session. A group of Adventurers decompress around a campfire. Play to relax or debrief.

Entrenched – an old woman’s request for closure sends you to the bottom of the ocean, to a reef grown on the husks of wrecked warmachines.

The 2017 volume of the 200 Word RPG anthology with two new entries

Date Mates – A hack of 10 Candles focused around sharing joyful dates with your friends and telling them why you love them.

Thank You For Sharing – an examination of critique and celebration regarding your work and the work that you love.

The Kiss Of Walt Whitman Still On My Lips – A group of queer lovers discover an ancient Greek artifact. What can you learn about yourselves and The Artifact, and how much are you prepared to sacrifice?

Games

Don't Be Shy

If we didn’t answer all of your questions, feel free to drop us a line anytime.